According to my country's three-step aerospace strategy, our country will implement the manned moon landing plan around 2030. To this end, our country has conducted a large number of related experiments on the International Space Station it independently established.
During the period of China's Tiangong Space Station
, astronauts have to live in space for a long time. How do they take a bath and get a haircut? Won't they stink when they come back?
Astronauts’ Space Life
At the beginning of the development of the human aerospace field, scientists did not pay much attention to the personal hygiene of astronauts.
The Soviet Union's first astronaut in space was stagnant in space for about 3 hours. When he wanted to excrete, scientists asked him to urinate directly in his spacesuit.
Therefore, when the astronaut came home, people took off his clothes, and a smell of and hit his nostrils.
For a long time, scientists have asked astronauts to discharge various pollutants directly into their space suits or spacecrafts, which is quite unhygienic.
Space suit structure
Scientists later discovered that astronauts, as heroes in the field of human spaceflight, must maintain a good image at all times.
Because sometimes they have to appear in the public eye, their activities will also be recorded and put on TV.
In order to solve the excretion problem of astronauts, scientists invented an enhanced version of diaper . This diaper has a strong water absorption capacity and can accommodate the excretion of astronauts for several days.
Astronaut diapers
As long as astronauts prepare a few diapers before departure, they can perfectly solve their need for excretion.
But one drawback is that astronauts not only have to excrete, they also have to excrete .
With the advancement of human technology, astronauts stay in the sky longer and longer, and how to eliminate waste has become another problem in the aerospace field.
After all, space is a gravity-free environment , and it is very likely that "gold will fly all over the sky" will occur when excreted everywhere.
The picture is too beautiful to imagine
NASA took the lead and spent tens of millions of dollars to create a unique space toilet specifically for astronauts.
This toilet collects human solid and liquid waste and mixes it with a special kind of water.
Some of the liquid will be collected and thrown away when the mission is completed and returned to Earth. The vast majority of the liquid will enter the circulation of the spacecraft. After continuous decomposition, purification, and electrolysis, it will become the domestic water for the astronauts again.
The water circulation in the space station
In this way, it not only solves the astronauts' excretion troubles, but also facilitates their long-term life in space, which is very practical.
In addition, scientists will also carefully prepare special food for astronauts to make the astronauts' excrement controllable.
Astronauts also have a unique set of "skills" when it comes to personal hygiene.
Personal hygiene issues
If you live in space for 6 months, whether you are a male or female astronaut, you will inevitably have long hair . If not treated, it will greatly affect your personal appearance.
What is the difference between astronauts and our usual haircuts?
In fact, there is no essential difference between the two. When astronauts want to get a haircut, they only need to take out a specific electric razor and let their companions help take care of it.
Cleaning ability is fully enhanced
Astronauts exist as elites among humans. Not only do they have physical fitness that is beyond the reach of ordinary people, but in their daily training, they also have to learn various skills, including many life skills.
So their level of haircutting is still very high, so there is no need to worry about technical issues. The only difference between
and our haircut is that space is a weightless environment, so astronauts' electric razors must be equipped with a suction device to suck the newly cut hair into a specific device and collect it.
is like a vacuum cleaner , absorbing all the hair at a glance.
Now that the haircut problem is solved, what about taking a bath?
After all, it is impossible to install a mountain shower system in a space environment, and they cannot take a bath in a bathtub.
Special astronaut bathing device
In fact, bathing is a simpler thing for astronauts.
There is a special cleaning liquid on the spacecraft. When astronauts want to take a shower, they only need to apply the liquid to their bodies, rub them, and finally wash them off with a towel.
In this way, not only will the body not stink, but it will also have a nice fragrance .
Astronauts will also use this liquid to wash their hands after completing their missions.
The water that astronauts need
Seeing this, many friends may have this question. Although astronauts do not need water in many aspects, they always drink water . Where does the water they drink come from? If
is carried from a spacecraft, it will inevitably bring huge costs.
Astronauts drink water
Because every inch of space in the spacecraft is extremely precious, and water takes up a lot of space.
Moreover, once water is left in the space environment for a long time, it is likely to deteriorate.
The American approach is to regularly replenish the water source of the space station. They frequently launch satellites to ensure sufficient water sources in the station.
However, this approach is extremely expensive. Data shows that the cost per liter of transported water is about US$11,000, and astronauts need about 2 liters of drinking water every day.
It can be said that astronauts drink not water, but "gold".
Drinking water in space is an interesting thing
Under this premise, our country has created a water treatment system with recycling properties.
This kind of system will collect all water and water vapor generated by the space station, condense it, and send it to a specialized processing device for further purification. There are six purification processes in
, including distillation, electrolysis, reverse osmosis , etc., to reduce water into pure water .
Water purification process
This water does not contain any impurities and is simply cleaner than our usual drinking water. There is no need to worry about hygiene issues at all.
So people often say that astronauts drink their own urine. Although it doesn’t sound so pleasant, it is actually true.
Astronauts’ Garbage
Many friends may think that the garbage generated by astronauts on the spacecraft or on the space station is thrown directly into space.
Diapers thrown on the surface of the moon
This was indeed the case at the beginning of the development of the human aerospace field in the last century. However, with the advancement of the aerospace field, people discovered that the garbage thrown in space will eventually be affected by the earth's gravity and rotate around the earth at high speed, which will have an extremely bad impact on the human aerospace industry.
Data shows that a piece of space junk of about 10 centimeters is enough to crash a human launch vehicle .
Space junk surrounds the earth
In 1983, the US Challenger collided with a piece of space junk that was only 0.2 cm, causing damage to part of the system on the right side. In desperation, NASA had to stop the space mission, losing tens of millions of dollars in vain.
In 2000, NASA stated that more than 4,500 tons of garbage remained in orbit, and that this garbage would have an unpredictable impact on the future of mankind.
Not only that, space junk stays in earth orbit, and there is also the risk of falling to the earth . There have been several cases of space junk falling. Although it has not caused any real impact, these are all potential safety hazards for human beings.
In foreign countries, special observation stations have been established in order to monitor space debris above the earth.
Therefore, various countries are very cautious about the disposal of space junk. NASA once created a device that uses garbage for power generation, but unfortunately this device is only suitable for organic garbage .
Space junk
At present, the mainstream method adopted by various countries is to collect garbage, compress them together, and finally hoard them, transport them back to the earth .
This will have to occupy the space of the spacecraft, increasing the cost and pressure of transportation.
It can be seen that whether in space or on earth, we must protect the environment and not litter.
